Are you looking for an exciting and innovative Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme in the heart of China’s booming eastern corridor?

International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at XJTLU offers a contemporary and highly creative, world-class MBA degree through close cooperation with the University of Liverpool. You’ll be immersed in the business practices and cultural intricacies of both China and the Western world, experiencing the best of east and west. IBSS staff bring the MBA to life with cutting-edge global business knowledge and by employing international best practices in management education.

The IBSS MBA is designed with one key goal in mind, to prepare you for success in today’s dynamic global business environment. It is developed to international standards with value-added, China-specific content.

Our real-world curriculum is taught entirely in English by a diverse and expert academic business staff from around the world. Our aim is to ensure that our students are strong candidates in the global job market. The programme includes six weeks of study in the heart of the city of London’s financial markets as well as exchange opportunities with top business schools around the world.

Founded in 2013 as the exclusive business school of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, International Business School Suzhou offers a unique blend of Western and Chinese academic practices. It is the youngest business school ever to earn Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation and has accreditation from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Located in Suzhou, Jiangsu, near Shanghai, one of China’s the fastest-growing commercial centres, IBSS seeks to become an international leader in business education and research. It is perfectly placed to support your talent development and research needs.

Creative interaction and collaboration with international and domestic businesses, coupled with solid academic grounding, underpins the IBSS learning and teaching environment. This prepares Chinese students for international business and international students for doing business in or with China.

You will access unrivalled China-based business connections thanks to our strategic location within Suzhou Industrial Park, home to many Fortune 500 companies within a community of nearly 5,000 Chinese and international enterprises. Internships, field projects and a dissertation will further develop your understanding of the fast-growing, critically important Chinese market.

Upon successful graduation you will become a part of the University of Liverpool’s worldwide alumni network of over 100,000 based in 130 countries.

Minimum Entry Requirements

UK

Upper second class (2:1) honours

China

• 1st tier universities: 75 percent or above
• 2nd tier universities: 80 percent or above

Note: Chinese applicants are not required to take the MoE postgraduate entrance exam.

North America

3.0 Cumulative GPA (out of 4) or 3.2 Cumulative GPA in the final two years of your undergraduate programme

Other Regions

Equivalent academic qualifications

Academic Background

An undergraduate degree (UK 2:1 or equivalent) and a minimum of three years’ full-time working experience.

English Language Requirements

If English is not your native language or if you have not studied in English at degree level, you will need to provide evidence of your English proficiency. You should normally possess one of the following qualifications:

• IELTS: 6.5 (minimum of 5.5 in all sections)
• TOEFL iBT: 90 (minimum of 21 in any skill)

In exceptional circumstances, individual cases will be considered on their own merits. You may be required to attend interviews or tests to further demonstrate your English proficiency.

If you miss the English language requirements by 0.5-1.0 of an IELTS band, or a similar number for other English language exams, you can be admitted to the programme after successful completion of our four- or six-week intensive English presessional course.

You can also apply to take the XJTLU English language test in lieu of an IELTS/TOEFL or equivalent. Based on the score, students may be admitted or may be required to take and successfully complete the four- or six-week intensive English presessional course.

Additionally, students may be required to complete English language courses on a pass/fail basis as part of the additional learning activity requirement during their studies at XJTLU.

Semester One

In the first semester, you’ll follow a prescribed curriculum of eight taught modules spanning essential business concepts. These are:

• Microeconomics for managers
• Strategic management
• Accounting for managers
• Global sustainability and social responsibility
• Organisational behaviour and human resource management
• Marketing and sales
• Strategic operations management
• Corporate finance.

* Each module is worth two-and-a-half credits.

Semester Two

The second semester has two parts. In part one, you will engage in intense study of international finance and be based in the heart of the global financial market at the University of Liverpool’s London campus. In the second part, you will return to Suzhou for intense study of business in the Chinese context that includes residential weeks in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an.

Semester Three

In your third and the final semester, you’ll work closely with advisors to plan the ideal final project to round out your MBA programme. Choose from among three formats conducted at IBSS or with an IBSS corporate or academic partner:

• Option A: full-time internship
• Option B: practice-based consulting project for a company
• Option C: academic-based research.

You may also take advantage of field trips to IBSS academic partners: University of Toronto’s Rotman Business School, Bocconi University in Milan, or Recanati Business School at the University of Tel Aviv.

Throughout the curriculum, additional learning activities focus on your professional development, ranging from intense Chinese language study and team-building principals to career planning and corporate communication.